The shellfish spilled over the entire floor, mussels and oysters, shrimp and crawdads. It was a spectacle, and one that the dragon set to eating, at once.

Not that Harry'd been expecting a thank you. He was far too familiar with what it was to go hungry. And, just because the Goblins fed the poor dragon didn't mean they'd been feeding him right.

The dragon pushed his snout nearly to the edge of a door, to lick up the last clam with his tongue. Then he pivoted, swiveled his neck towards Harry, "Thank you. Your power with the pointy-teeth is well demonstrated."

The dragon blinked his big, scaled eyes at Harry, "Your words earlier suggested that you were just as much a captive as I, yet here you set me a repast the likes of which I have not had in years. Circle the square."

Harry blinked, "I will be just as trapped as you, if I do not succeed as mediator. They will leave me down here to rot."

The dragon asked, "How do you know?"

Harry shrugged, "You're worth more to them than I am. You are large, and fearsome, and they are tiny and weak. You could easily kill them all, and only your own good nature has saved them, time and again." It was fact, not flattery, so Harry said it firmly.

"Why would you speak for the pointy-teethed ones?" The dragon asked.

"I do not speak for them, I merely relay their words." Harry said.

"Why split shells with them?" The dragon asked.

Harry paused to work out the metaphor, "I want justice. Justice would be neither served by you burning down their home, nor from you residing in the depths. I love to fly, and I cannot let stand others... in chains." Harry's voice nearly broke, it shook so hard.

"Perhaps you should ask what the goblins want." The dragon thoughtfully responded.

"What do you want?" Harry asked, turning to the small goblin beside him.

"Forgiveness." The goblin said, his mouth splitting into a spiky-toothed grin. "And firepower."

"They want to work with you," Harry reinterpreted. "And, for that, they need you to forgive them."

Fire licked doors, charring a few. "Forgiveness may prove more costly than all the gold that surrounds me."

Harry did not translate, "Not obtaining that forgiveness may cost them even more."

The dragon paused, "How so?"

"No one finds gold worth lives." Harry said.

"They did. Mine." The dragon hissed, and Harry wanted badly to hide somewhere, to be "Not Me" for once.

"Unable to even speak to you, they fed you and housed you - improperly, sure, but others would have seen you as cattle for the harvest." Harry said.

The dragon roared, quaking the entire building.

"It is true. Dragon's heartstring is a known wand ingredient. They saved you from that."

"Why do they trust you?"

Harry shrugged, "I'm not sure they do. I think - and they're right - they believe that my freedom is worth enough to me that I would not lightly jeopardize it."

The dragon harrumphed, with little licks of fire.

[a/n: so sorry this is so late! Much writers block. Look at my other stories, notably The Floating World and "Thanks, but I'll just try the dragon"

And remember to review! Reviews mean more stories!]